Process and apparatus for filling in excavations.



J. C. MEEM.

PROCESS AND-APPARATUS FOR FILLING IN EXCAVATIONS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN- IZ, I918- Patented Dec. 30,1919.

- ing in the excavation spaces left behind.

I UNITED STATES.- PATENT oniucn.

JAMES C. MEEM, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO FREDERICK In GRAN FORD, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 1919.

Application filed January 12, 1918. Serial No. 211,499.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMns C. MEEM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes and Apparatus for Filling in Excavations, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to foundation construction and has particular reference to fillstructures such as piers, footing, underpinning and tunnels. The excavations for such structures are usually larger than the structures themselves so that considerable space is left around the completed foundation which has to be filled in. It has formerly been the practice to open up these spaces and fill them with sand, gravel. or the like, tamped into place. Such methods require extensive extra excavation to provide access to the spaces to be filled and are slow and troublesome and the tamped material does not reachfully and evenlyall the parts of the excavation so there are places of greater and less compactness causing subsequent slippage and settling.

By this invention this extra excavation and tamping are rendered unnecessary and at the same time a better and more compact filler is provided. According to this invention the excavation spaces are filled with clay or similar plastic material forced in under suificient pressure to make it flow into all parts of the space to be filled. -Under the pressure applied such plastic material becomes semi-fluid in behavior transmitting pressure equally in all directions and spreading into the remotest parts of the excavation. Relatively'inaccessible spaces can, therefore, be readily reached and filled from .a single point ofdistribution without extensive excavation and'tamping and at the same time the consistency of the material is such that the surrounding soil is not porous to it. The filling is, therefore, retained as a solid homogeneous mass permanently settled against caving in and slippage.

In the accompanying drawings illustratin one way of practising the invention,

T igure 1 is a vertical section of a foundation excavation and means for filling it;

Figs. 2 and 3 are side and face views, re-

spectlvely, of check valve mechanism for I retaining the filler in place;

Figs. 1 and 5 are enlarged views of details of the filling mechanism.

In the particular construction illustrated, 5 is a building, the foundation footing 6 of which is carried down to lower levels by the underpinning or sub-foundation 7 made necessary, for instance, by neighboring tunneling. The large excavation 8 required for the construction of the sub-foundation and also for the temporary strutting of the footmg 6, has left around-the completed subfoundation a space 9 which is not only very irregular in form with many complications and ramifications, but is rendered difficult 0; access by the sub-foundation in front 0 1t.

' According -to the process of this invention, the space 9 is filled with clay or similar plastic material driven in under such pressure that the material behaves like a liquid pressing equally in all directions and forcing itself into all parts of the space 9 to completely and compactly fill it "and solidly back up against the wall 7. This spreading of the pressed material in all directions, upward as well as downward, allows it to be introduced at any point that is most accessible and also permits the use of a relatively restricted supply passage without extensive excavation such as is required in prior practice where the filler is introduced and tamped into place. In the construction illustrated a single supply passage 10 has been left through the wall of the sub-foundation 7. This passage is provided by a pipe or cylinder 11 built into the pressure in the space 9 exceeds that in the passage 10 so as to positively trap-the clay in the excavation. The clay or other material is forced through the pipe 11 by a reciprocating plunger 15 having packing 17 q and fitting into the pipe 11. This plunger a plain screw jack or straight-away ram' with means such as cable or rods for with:

drawing ,the piston. Material introduced into the pipe 11 from hopper 22 in front of the piston 16 will be forced on each reciprocation of the plunger through the gates 13 into the space 9 until this space is tightly filled. The material will be retained within the space 9 by the gates 13 and the pipe 11 may be made removable from the head 12 so that the only portion of the filling mechanism permanently remaining in position may be this head 12 with its valve gates 13. The pipe. 10 may also be arrangedso that it may be held temporarily in place while operating andwholly withdrawn when -the clay or other material has sufliciently dried or hardened. I The pressure of the driving plunger is such as to force the plastic mass into all parts of thespace 9 snugly, and the finally applied pressure permanently retained on the filler will be predetermined as that necessary to properly support thesurrounding soil and structures As such a filling material clay is preferred since its plasticity is such as to cause it to become semi-fluid under pressure and to flow like liquid in all directions to fillv all the ramifications and crevices such as 30, 31 and '32 of the hole and at the same time it maintains its unity and homogeneity in its own mass which makes it a strong and permanent binder and filler which maintains its supporting pressure and will not collapse or settle with age. Any slippage or settling of the surrounding' soil may becom'pensated for from time .to time by forcing in more clay which will join with the clay ahead of it and become simply a part of one homogeneous mass.

This invention not only produces -amore complete and homogeneous filling which is secure against settling but also saves greatly in the time and expense formerly consumed in opening up extensive access to the spaces to be filled and tamping the filler into place.

The process may be applied to the filling of other subterranean excavations, such as those for tunnels, underplnnmg, etc., and

other means may be used to force in the clay such, for instance, as a continuously operating helical conveyer. The invention is not ccnfined to the specific structure or mechanism illustrated but is intended to cover all such processes and apparatuses as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

' Having thus described my invention, I declare that 'what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is 1* 1. The process of filling in an irregular subterranean excavation, comprising providing a passage to said excavation, and then forcing through said passage into said excavation a normally plastic materials adapted to be rendered semi-fluid by pressure and retained by the walls of said excavation, and applying a predetermined pressure. to said material to force it to flow in semi-fluid manner and fill said excavation, increasing said pressure and the amount of material until the filler exerts a predeter; mined counter pressure, and retaining the material under said pressure to form a per-- manent filling and support the surrounding parts. a 4 so 2. The process of filling in an irregular subterranean excavation, comprising pro-" viding a passage to said excavation, ,and then forcing through said passage into said excavation clay adapted to be rendered semi-fluid by pressure and retained by the walls of said excavation, and applying a pre-' determined pressure to said cla to force it to flow in semi-fluid manner an fill said excavation, increasing said pressure and the amount of material until the filler exerts a predetermined counter pressure, and retaining'theclay under said pressure to form a permanent filling and support the surrounding parts.

. 3. The process of filling in subterranean excavations to support adjacent structures,

comprising providing a passage to said excavation and forcing therethrough a nor mally plastic material adapted to be rendered'semi-fluid by pressure, under sufiicient ressure to force said material to flow and 1 said excavation in semi-fluid manner, increasing the amount of material until it is sufiicient to develop a predetermined supporting pressure against said structure, and retaining said material in said excavation under-pressure to permanently fill said exca vation and support said structure.

4:. The process of filling in subterranean excavations to support adjacent structures,

comprisingproviding a passage to said excavation and forcing therethrough clay ,1 "adapted to be rendered semi-fluid by pressure and retained b the walls of said excavation, under su cient pressure to force said clay to flow and-fill said excavation in semi-fluld manner, increasing the'amount of material until it is suflicient to develop a predetermined supporting pressure against said structure, and retaining said clay .in said excavation under-pressure to permanently fill said excavation and support said structure.

5. In apparatus for filling in excavation spaces, the combination with a confining means having a passage opening into said spaces, of means for forcing normally plastlc material through said passage under sufficient pressure to make said, material flow masses a in semi-fluid condition into all partsof said spaces, and valve means for retalning sa1d material in said spaces under pressure.

6. The process of providing su' bterranean support for a structure comprising forcing into a subterranean hole adjacent said structure a normally plastic material like clay, and continuing to force said material into said hole under sufieient pressure and in supporting pressure desired for suflicient quantity to How in semi-fluid man- 10 ture.

JAMES C. MEEM.

said struc- 315 

